The Children's Tumor Foundation International NF Conference has had a fruitful history since its inception in 1985, and it plays a lynchpin role as the premier annual gathering of researchers and clinicians in the NF community. The meeting is a forum for research information exchange and discussion for worldwide attendees. It fosters collaboration, consensus building, and advances in translational research. The 2009 NF Conference includes many innovative elements. In response to the increasing attendance of clinicians, Continuing Medical Education accreditation is available to attendees for the first time (24.5 units in total). Three pairs of adjunct sessions are planned for the first time to meet the demands of parallel clinical and scientific audience. The first ever Clinic Coordinator 'Teach In'will be hosted as this community increases in attendance at the Conference. Finally, for the first time a Patient Symposium will be held prior to the NF Conference to connect more closely with and recognize efforts of the local community. The 2009 NF Conference agenda reflects the integrating roles of science, clinical care and clinical trials. The meeting kicks off with a session on clinical trial updates;this alone is tremendously exciting as just a few years ago there may have been a single trial report at the entire conference. The agenda progresses with sessions on Conference Highlights;and a session on Genotype/Phenotype Correlation, a tremendously exciting area with the recent emergence of at least 2 new 'forms'of NF1. Two pairs of parallel sessions then follow with a clinical track on Ras disorders and 'Clinical Cases That Taught Me Something', and a research track on unraveling molecular mechanisms. The conference proceeds with a special session on NF1 Learning Disabilities, an area of significant advancement in both science and clinical trials in the last two years and is followed by a session on NF2 and Schwannomatosis disorders that in the last year have become linked at the genetic level. The final day of the meeting opens with a session on Tumors of NF, and continues with parallel session, a clinical track on therapeutic development for bone abnormalities and a science track on cellular and animal models of NF. The meeting closes with a session on preclinical drug screening and included an update on the status of CTFs major initiative the NF Preclinical Consortium. The meeting is rounded out by two well-placed poster sessions. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Children's Tumor Foundation International NF Conference has had a fruitful history since its inception in 1985, and it plays a lynchpin role as the premier annual gathering of researchers and clinicians in the NF community. The meeting is a forum for research information exchange and discussion for researchers from around the world, and has traditionally fostered collaboration, consensus building, and advances in translational research culminating in clinical trials;Meeting attendance has almost doubled since 2005 to 230 attendees in 2008, driven largely by an expanding clinical agenda component as the neurofibromatosis field progresses bench to bedside.